Oh, how the mighty fall in love
by KyoukosSakura
Summary: Post Hope's Peak. Naegi suffers from PTSD, and mild hallucinations, but the mental hospital has got it under control. Until Byakuya Togami comes back, and drags him back to Hope's Peak to find out the school's true secrets,


Naegi remembers it being bright. Was it sun, or fire? Was it the apocalypse, or a normal summer morning? First he had to squint, but it became quickly too much. His eyes shut, and he brought up his elbow to cover them.  
Suddenly, a piercing ringing hit. He became weak, dropping to his knees. It was hard to block out, but he was managing. He heard Kirigiri shuffle over, and place a hand on his shoulder, asking if he was alright.  
He heard a 'tch' from Fukawa, a shriek from Hagakure, words of concern such as _Naegi oh my gosh, Naegi are you okay, Naegi look at me, Naegi can you hear me_ and _Naegi please tell me what's wrong_ from Asahina. Should he have been surprised to not hear Togami's voice, quite possibly, but he didn't have time to ask, as the ringing became to much, and everything went dark.

When he finally came to, he saw more light. Except it had depth this time. Was this heaven? Was all of it a big scheme from Enoshima-san, just to kill them all off in the end? His fists clenched out of anger. He would never know if Monobear's reign was true. He would never know if the planet had fallen into a despair. But as his fingers clenched, he felt fabric. Not soft, but, fabric nonetheless.

Naegi bolted up. This was not heaven. This was…a hospital bed? An asylum? Oh god, please don't let this be an asylum. He took a tentative step, before noticing a window. It had bars, and a padlock, and it was a window. A real window. Not bolted up. He almost couldn't believe it. Nerves bundled in his stomach, but he had to see. He had to know everything was okay.

He breathed in the smell of antiseptic, and realized that if things were not okay, there wouldn't be the stench in the air. One step. Two steps. Three steps and he was right beside the window. Taking a deep breath, he swallowed the lump in his throat and looked.

Blue skies.

Tall buildings.

Bustling streets, and cars driving down the road.

Everything was normal.

Everything was okay.

Except for the fact, that he was in a hospital. And the fact that he survived a high school of mutual killing, but he had gotten used to it by now.

He began to look around the room, not finding anything interesting, except for a copy of a magazine, which he didn't bother looking at. His footsteps were silent, and he padded to the door, only to find that this was not a normal hospital. Patients cloaked in white sat around various tables. Some drawing, some playing cards, and one even playing a simple melody on piano.

A nurse appeared at his side, "Ah! You're awake! After that fall last night we weren't sure how long you'd be out!" She laughed nervously, looking everywhere but his eyes, "Now come on, we've got a few tests to run!"

During the testing, Naegi noticed how she never made eye contact. Her words felt too practiced, and she stumbled over them. Her laugh was too loud, and too nervous. He told her about Hope's Peak, and her face turned 3 shades paler, "Wow, that's sure an interesting dream! Haha!"

He said nothing.

"So, what happened was, after you fell down the stairs last night, we were scared you might have had brain damage! But it seems you just have amnesia!" She smiled sickly sweet, "You're going to have strange dreams for a while, and I'm interested to see what you unconsciously think up tonight!"

Yet she still gave no answers as to why he was in a place as absurd as a mental hospital. He sat at a table in the corner, playing solitaire by himself. It became rather boring after 3 rounds. He didn't want to talk to any of he other patients, so he listened to the girl playing piano. In the middle of his fourth round of solitaire, he heard hushed voices at the 'front desk.'

Naegi strained to make out the words, but after a few moments, the conversation became heated, and louder. The man in what Naegi assumed was a tuxedo of a sort raised his voice.

"I should be allowed to communicate with him! I am here as a guest, not a killer!"

"Sir- please, calm down!"

"My name is Byakuya Togami!"

"That is the third time you've said that-"

"And I will not allow you to tell me what to do!"

Naegi's attention perked up. The woman seemed to consider it, most likely because she was tired of him not backing down.

"I suppose…I can give you a few minutes."

"Good."

The man- actually, he looked rather like a boy, pivoted, and headed promptly to Naegi's table. He shuffled cards, before setting them in a neat pile, "Can I help you?"

"Pathetic," Togami spat, "I am in this situation twice, and I still come out rich, and alive, and look at you. You couldn't handle it at all. You wound up in a cheap asylum somewhere in the United States. Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to find you? Of course you don't. And now I have to hunt down Fukawa," His nose turned up in disgust, "Kirigiri, Asahina, and Hagakure."

Naegi grinned a little, and picked up the deck of cards again. He dealt five cards to both of them, "Play with me."

Togami stared back, "Did you even hear a word of what I just said?!"

"Yes. And now I'm asking you to play a game with me." He spread out the rest of the cards on the table.

Togami made a noise in the back of his throat, "Tch. Fine, what are we playing? Poker? War? Russian Roulette?"

Naegi picked up his five cards, "Go fish."


End file.
